Liberal Judaism (until 2002: Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues) is one of the two WUPJ-affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom founded by Claude Montefiore. It is smaller and more radical in comparison with the other one, the Movement for Reform Judaism. It is considered ideologically closer to American Reform Judaism than it is to the British Reform movement. As of 2010 it was the fourth largest Jewish religious group in Britain, with 8.7% of synagogue-member households.
Belief and practice
The beliefs of Liberal Judaism are outlined in The Affirmations of Liberal Judaism, authored in 1992 by Rabbi John D Rayner, the most prominent of the movement's later theologians. Like Liberal Judaism founder Claude Montefiore, Rayner shared the ideals of worldwide Reform Judaism, also known as Progressive or Liberal Judaism. Rayner affirmed a personal God; an ongoing (or "progressive") revelation allowing all to form their own views of religiosity; mandating a critical understanding of sacred texts and the evolving nature of Judaism across the ages; the separation between the ethical and ritual aspects of Judaism, with the latter serving as an instrumental capacity of the former and having no intrinsic value; personal autonomy for the individual Jew; a belief in a messianic era of harmony instead of a personal messiah; and the rejection of bodily resurrection of the dead in favour of, at most but not necessarily, the immortality of the soul. The centrality of the Prophets' moral teachings was also stressed. As in the other branches of worldwide Reform, these convictions laid little emphasis on practical observance and regarded the mechanisms of Jewish law as basically non-binding.
British Liberal Judaism was defined by the radical purism of Montefiore, who was exceptional even among his peers worldwide in his desire to universalise and spiritualise Judaism, stripping it bare from whatever he considered overly particularist or ceremonial. Liberal liturgy in the early 20th century was drastically abridged and more than half of it was in English. Bareheaded men and women sat together, and ritual or practical observance were explicitly ignored; nonexistent levels of adherence to traditional forms were the norm in the Orthodox United Synagogue as well, but not publicly. The Election of Israel was reinterpreted in universalist terms, toning down the separateness of Jews and stressing their mission to spread the word of God among the nations. Prayers for the Messiah to restore the sacrificial cult in Jerusalem, mentions of bodily resurrection and angels, and overt Jewish particularism were removed or at least greatly reformed.
The highly sterile character of Liberal services and communal life was replaced in the postwar years, especially since the 1970s, as part of a renewed turn to tradition in the WUPJ. Many congregants sought both more tangible means of religious expression and a link with their heritage. A greater proportion of Hebrew in prayer and ceremonies of little importance but great sentimental value, like the bar mitzvah, were introduced, as well as a greater importance of pronounced Jewish uniqueness. Head coverings, prayer shawls, phylacteries, and the like became more popular. Siddur Lev Chadash, the new 1995 prayer book which replaced the older Service of the Heart from 1967, had far more Hebrew in the liturgy. Old concepts like following a kosher diet, at one point almost totally rejected, were reinstated with a stress on the autonomy of the individual and ethical implications.
The denomination was particularly noted for its incorporation of highly progressive values and great proclivity to change, while the Movement for Reform Judaism appealed to a more conservative audience and had to be more moderate. Already in the 1950s, Liberal Judaism was the first in the WUPJ to accept patrilineal descent, allowing children of a single Jewish father to inherit his Jewish status on the condition that the father had been raised Jewish. Egalitarianism, the use of gender-neutral language in prayer, LGBT participation, ordaining both female and LGBT clergy, and conducting same-sex marriages were also pioneered by British Jews within the movement. Brit Ahava ("Covenant of Love"), a guideline for LGBT Jewish weddings, was published even before same-sex marriage became legal. Liberal rabbis are allowed to perform "blessing" ceremonies for interfaith couples, with the official stance being that the non-Jewish partner is "marrying in" to Judaism rather than the Jewish partner "marrying out". Liberal Judaism was also the first to allow non-Jews to be buried alongside their Jewish spouses in Jewish cemeteries.